A Step Away to Normal
by LdyAnne
Summary: When SG1 can no longer communicate with each other, how will they get home?


**Author's Note:** This was written for the Gengate WordFic challenge. Write a fic using the letters from - An abandoned planet, blue skies, and three days to play - what could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

Almost any chance of PK9-422 being a benign place was shattered when Carter asked ingeniously, ""An abandoned planet, blue skies, and three days to play - what could possibly go wrong?" The rest of the team exchanged glances behind her back. Jack could see from Daniel's and Teal'c's pointed stares that it was up to him as team leader to tell her what she'd just done.

"Now, Carter, why would you want to go and do that?" Jack asked with a heavy sigh. She turned to regard him with a perplexed stare. It was obvious she had not a clue what she'd just done. He waved a hand to take in the sunny sky and sandy beach, "You've just jinxed this whole place, you know that, don't you? Now there's no chance that we can enjoy our three days on the beach without some big hairy sea monster trying to grab Daniel or some power mad System Lord trying to extract secrets from us."

"Absolutely you should always deep fry broccoli?" Carter's face creased as she looked from one team mate to the next. For a moment Jack's brain tried to process what she'd just said. It sounded like utter nonsense, but that wasn't possible. Carter never spoke utter nonsense, Daniel did sometimes when he started spouting things in other languages, but Carter never did. Just because Jack couldn't understand it, didn't mean that it was utter nonsense. But this…

"Better when you dive from a depth, do you have to take the train?" Jack watched as Daniel's eyes grew larger and Teal'c's eyebrow rose. Crap, this time even he didn't understand what he'd just said. Frantically he tried to think of what could have happened to cause him to have a concussion because that had to be the solution, he was sure of it. That is, he was sure until the rest of his team all started talking at once...

"Angry marsupials march on the town during the dark of the moon?" Daniel frowned at what he heard coming from his mouth.

"Never knowing the time, you should hurry to get in out of the rain," it was a lot coming from Teal'c, but that didn't mean it actually meant anything.

Desperate to make some sense of what was going on, Jack held up a hand and whistled. At least that came out the way he wanted it to. His team stood, looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to come up with something, anything, to explain the situation. Carter opened her mouth to say something, and Jack help up a hand to stop her. He couldn't stand to hear the gobbdlygook come out of her mouth again. It just upset the entire order of the universe. They seemed to still understand nonverbal communications, so hand signals would have to do until they got home. He pointed back the way they came and wiggled his fingers to indicate they should go back to the gate and return home. Time to pack things in for this trip, kids. It made perfect sense to him...

Only every one of his team seemed to think that the gate was in a different direction. Jack's mouth dropped open as each of his three team members started off in a different direction, Daniel headed straight toward the water, Carter began hiking towards the interior and Teal'c headed away from them along the beach. Seeing that Daniel was in the greatest danger, Jack went after him first, stopping him just short of the waves that lapped against the sand. Daniel regarded him with a puzzled query in his eye, but stood still when Jack gave him an emphatic 'stay put' gesture with his hands.

Next up was Carter who didn't seem to realize that no one was following her as she trekked away from the water. This inability of his team to recognize basic facts was worrying Jack. Surely Carter could tell that she was nowhere close to retracing her steps. And yet she was moving along with an almost jaunty gait. He had to run to catch her arm and pull her to a halt.

"Everyone knows when you're sick, you shouldn't step on a crack?" Carter asked in a puzzled tone. She looked past him to where Daniel was still standing waiting by the water where Jack had told him to stay. Teal'c, on the other hand, was moving away from them at a brisk pace. With an aggrieved huff, Jack waved at Carter to indicate she should join Daniel, while he hurried after Teal'c. The Jaffa was nearly out of sight and Jack had to put on an extra spurt of speed to catch him before he disappeared around a bend in the beach.

"Deer would know what to do about the gravity lost," Jack wheezed when he finally caught up to Teal'c. He paused a moment with his head down, hands on his knees, breath coming fast. Teal'c didn't respond, just raised an eyebrow as he turned, waiting for Jack to regain his breath.

Pulling at Teal'c's sleeve, Jack waved to where Carter and Daniel were waiting for them. Jack huffed in annoyance when he saw that Daniel had sat and removed his shoes, dabbling his toes in the water. Throwing down her pack and weapon, Carter had found some smooth stones and was skimming them over the waves.

Leaving any of his team alone was a definite no-no. Jack could see that. Not that he'd been considering it, but it was good to know all the variables in a situation. He pulled on Teal'c again, dragging him along behind as he made his way back to where Daniel and Carter waited. The two blinked up at him in surprise when he finally made it back with Teal'c in tow. They looked for all the world like a couple of kids caught in some sort of mischief.

Asking for their cooperation was going to be useless. Jack had already seen the result of his first attempt at getting them on their way. No, he was going to have to take a more forthright approach. He picked up Daniel's shoes and mimed him putting them back on. It wasn't the best communication system but it worked as Daniel sullenly complied without bothering to tie them. Whatever was affecting his team was getting worse. Carter was now laying back in the sand, making angels as if she were in the snow, giggling like a kid. He himself had an overwhelming urge to find a stick and string and go fishing in the ocean. He pushed the impulse aside. It was his job to make sure that the team made it home.

Needing to get his team home was one thing. Jack could see that actually getting them home was going to be a horse of another color as Teal'c dropped down into the sand next to Carter and joined her in making sand angels. He drug his arms and legs through the sand laughing like a kid. Jack was almost sorry to put a halt to the fun, but he knew that the sooner he got them home, the sooner they could figure out was wrong. He whistled again to get their attention, after all it had worked the first time. It wasn't quite as successful a second time. Carter and Teal'c just giggled at him and Daniel plopped onto his back and joined in.

Effective leadership was one of his strengths. General Hammond had said so in one of his performance evaluations. Jack had always been proud of the fact that he'd been able to take such disparate individuals as the members of SG-1 and meld them into an effective front-line team. Now, watching his three team mates playing in the sand, he could see that leadership slowly unraveling.

"Trip up the stairs and tell me what you want for dinner," he shouted at his team. That at least got their attention, they blinked at him expectantly. He was struck by inspiration and acted without thinking. Spreading his arms, he mimed an airplane and began to run in the sand making spirals and lazy loops.

"Bzzzzzzzzz.," he managed to get his mouth to cooperate that far at least and made the sound he always had as a kid as he swooped along. Soon the rest of his team was behind him, playing follow-the-leader just like they were first graders on a lazy summer day. He swooped by Carter's pack and picked it up, looping it over his own and pulling the strap of her weapon over his head. He wasn't sure he wanted her to have a gun in this state after all. Once he had them all following along, he began to make his way up the beach the way they had come.

Leading them this way was going to take forever, Jack could see that. They'd walked several hours from the Gate before they'd been hit with the affliction, whatever it was. It was going to take that long and more to get back. He was never going to be able to maintain the airplane pace with his and Carter's packs. He needed to come up with another plan to keep his team following.

Unable to think of anything else to do, Jack kept leading the team in the direction they had come. As he followed their footprints in the sand, his mind was busy trying to figure out just what was happening to his team. There had been nothing more unusual or different than they had encountered on any of a hundred different worlds over the years. So what was it about this one that was causing this disturbing affect in his team, in him? It was getting to be all he could do to resist the urge to dump the backpacks and play tag with his friends in the sand.

"Easy days are coming when we skip rope in the afternoon." Carter's call alerted him that all was not well behind him. Jack glanced back to discover that Daniel was missing from the line following him. Crap. Carter and Teal'c at least didn't look like they were going anywhere, they just stood watching him curiously. Daniel, on the other hand, was walking determinedly away from them, headed into the planet's interior. Jack couldn't see anything to draw his interest, but you never knew with Daniel what was going to catch his attention. He sat Carter and Teal'c in the sand and motioned for them to stay, hoping that they'd do that and not wander off by themselves once his back was turned. It seemed he didn't need to worry about them as they immediately began scooping up the sand, building sand castles.

Satisfied that they were somewhat occupied, Jack set out to retrieve Daniel. Trudging along, he decided that he was getting seriously annoyed with all the sand. On their trip out, they had set a steady pace and the sand shifting under their feet hadn't been a problem, but now it sucked at him, dragging him down with every step. As Daniel was drawing ever farther from him, the sand didn't seem to be a problem for him anyway. Jack broke into a trot to catch up with his escaping archaeologist.

Knowing that Daniel could be distracted by the smallest things, Jack really couldn't see what it was that had drawn his interest. Of course, with the current state of his team's awareness, he could be chasing butterflies. Shading his eyes from the sun, Jack paused to cast a quick glance back to make sure Carter and Teal'c were where he had left them. It looked like all was quiet on that front, they were busily involved with whatever building project they had started. Turning back Jack picked up his pace in pursing Daniel.

In front of him, Daniel was seriously intent on getting wherever it was he was going, his eyes were fixed on the horizon. For the life of him, Jack couldn't see anything of interest, just miles and miles of more sand. The farther from the beach they went, the more the sand turned into a desert-like wasteland. Maybe that was exactly what was drawing Daniel along. Growing up on digs in the Middle East and then living for a year in Abydos, sand was more his natural environment than the cool greenness of Colorado Springs. Maybe Daniel thought he was going home.

Except he wasn't. This was an alien desert. They had no idea what lurked beneath the sand. Whatever it was, Jack was getting the idea more and more that it wasn't good. Even though he had put a bandana over his own mouth and throat to keep from inhaling it, he felt like he was covered in the stuff. It was getting down into his clothes now and he could feel the sticky grittiness of it between his t-shirt and his skin.

Slowing a little, he caught up to Daniel, catching his arm. His friend turned to him blankly, there was no recognition in his face. It chilled Jack at just how blank Daniel's face was. Not only was there no recognition there, there was just nothing there, no emotion or light. That spark that made Daniel, Daniel, was gone.

"Apples like to soak in the tub before they go out for the night?" Daniel asked before pulling free of Jack's hold. Turning, he took a step to continue his trek.

"Never wake the dollies when you want to take them to the movies," Jack caught his arm and tried to swing him in the other direction, back towards the rest of the team. He pointed emphatically towards Carter and Teal'c.

Daniel came alive then. Furiously he struck out at Jack, "Maybe if you asked, you could see the pigs fly." Jack blocked the blow easily, but Daniel was persistent. He followed up with a blow to the stomach that connected. Jack doubled over breathless. It was only a second, but it was long enough for Daniel to be on his way again. Jack could see that Daniel was determined. Even when he was in his right mind, once Daniel made up his mind, there was no deterring him. Jack was going to have to take drastic action to stop him.

Totally not liking it, but knowing that he had no other course of action, Jack grabbed Daniel's arm and swung him around again. This time he was ready and ducked Daniel's swing before swinging up with his own fist. He knew how to hit Daniel so as to cause the least amount of damage and still knock him out. Even so, it hurt to see Daniel's head snap back and his eyes flash with surprise before he went down like a sack of potatoes. Jack knelt in the sand, pulling Daniel's unconscious body onto his shoulder. He straightened in one fluid motion, feeling the protest in knees that were already overtaxed and complaining the abuse he'd put them through.

"Have to put him on a diet," was Jack's thought as he hauled Daniel up and draped him over his shoulders. Not that Daniel carried any extra weight. In fact, it seemed that over the years Daniel had lost any semblance of the academic softness he had when he arrived at the SGC. Now Daniel was all lean muscle and he was resembling a soldier more and more. Despite the changes in his body, Daniel hadn't lost any of the fire or passion that he carried in his soul and for that Jack was glad. It was that passion that kept them all going sometimes. Of course it was that passion that got them in trouble sometimes, too. Like now, if Daniel had just stayed with the program they'd be a lot closer to getting back to the gate right now. But no, he had to go exploring. Balancing Daniel, Jack turned to begin the trek back across the sand to rejoin the rest of his team. After just a step or two his knees began to feel like spaghetti and his back started protesting. Despite the cloth he had covering his mouth and nose he was breathing in the damn sand with every breath. Though he liked to deny it, and most days he just ignored it, Jack knew he had limits and right now he was beginning to feel like he was hitting them. It would be so easy to just let his team take care of themselves, so easy to leave Daniel and just go off by himself, do whatever he wanted without having to worry about his team and whether they ever made it home.

Realizing his train of thought was dangerous, Jack shoved it aside. These were his friends, his team. They needed him to keep a clear head or none of them were going to get home. Taking a firm hold of Daniel, Jack kept walking. Crap! How was it that these things always happened to SG-1 anyway? If there was a system lord with a grudge or an alien that was looking for a whipping boy somehow SG-1 found them. All Jack had wanted was a quiet mission with a little sun, a little sand, a chance for Daniel to do his archaeologist thing, maybe let Carter tinker with her doodads and watchmacallits. Now look at them, they were in the land of the lost and he didn't even have the opportunity to be bored silly because he couldn't understand a thing any of his teammates said to him. Wildly he tried to figure out how long it would be before they could expect to hear from the SGC. How long had it been since they'd arrived on the planet? Jack couldn't remember anymore. It had still been several hours before they were due to check in so it might be awhile before the SGC actually called to check on them. Even so, he kept hoping that the radio would crackle to life and it would be Sgt. Davis asking for a report.

Except what would they report? SG-1's conversational skills hadn't been particularly sparkling of late. What would the SGC make of the things they'd been saying today? Jack could just imagine the conversation they'd have with the SGC.

"Every good rabbit likes to hop around the block," Jack mumbled to himself as he walked. Yeah, that would go over well with the SGC. He had no doubt that the general would send a rescue team. And he couldn't do that. Jack knew that a rescue attempt would be disastrous. Whatever was affecting SG-1 would surely bring down their rescuers, too. No, it was up to him to get his team home.

Desperately, he held on tightly to Daniel. His weight kept shifting and moving on Jack's back. He concentrated on putting one foot in front of the next. He was definitely not thinking of how much further he had to go. He was also not thinking of how much he'd like to just sit and rest for a second, just lay down in the sand and close his eyes, let everything go.

At least they were together. Or they would be as soon as he and Daniel made it back to where Carter and Teal'c's waited. They were always alright as long as he could keep the team together, that was the key. That was his job, to keep the team together. Lately it had seemed that SG-1 was drifting apart, going in different directions. Daniel was more and more in demand with other teams, and Carter always had this project or the other that she was working on. And Teal'c was getting more and more involved in the freedom movement for the jaffa, they needed him as their strong voice and leader.

Yet Jack knew they were better as a team than individually. What was it called? Daniel had told him once. The sum of the whole is greater than its parts? A Gear-something or another. He just needed to get his team together for a few days of sun and sand and let them reconnect, that was all they needed.

Some plan, he thought wryly. Now it was shot all to hell. Still, Jack could Carter and Teal'c where they were sitting on the beach, having a merry time, busily building something in the sand as the water swirled around them. He and Daniel were bonding in that special way they had. All in all, if it wasn't for the whole insanity thing his team was experiencing, it wouldn't be such a bad place, a vacation of sorts without the annoying tourist traps. His team always did do things in an unconventional ways.

Too tired to do more than put one foot in front of the other, Jack was grateful to see that Carter and Teal'c were finally drawing closer. It took longer than he liked, but he finally made it back to their position. Everything was just as he left it with packs lying buried in the sand, Carter and Teal'c sitting playing, oblivious to the fact that they were out of their heads. Across his shoulders, Daniel showed no signs of joining them in the land of the conscious anytime soon. Jack paused to catch his breath. Now he just had to get everyone moving again. There was just no way he would he be playing airplanes while carrying Daniel.

Oblivious to his presence, Carter and Teal'c continued building their castles in the sand. Jack just stood catching his breath, watching them for a second, then what they were so busy building caught his eye. It didn't look much like a castle, he realized. It looked more than anything... Finally, he had to smile. Whether they actually knew it or not, they were building a Stargate in the sand.

Perplexed as he was about what was happening to his friends, Jack was glad to see some small sign that the people he knew was still inside them someplace. He whistled to get their attention. Both the jaffa and the major peered up at him, Carter's head tilted as she took in the sight of him with Daniel across his shoulders.

"Little does not have to do what I want?" she said. Jack had no idea what she was asking him. He pointed at her pack and made the walking gesture with his fingers again. He held his breath while she scowled up at him until she finally stood stiffly, sling the pack over her shoulder before brushing the sand off her clothes. She offered a hand to Teal'c to help him rise. He picked up his staff weapon from where he had discarded it against a rocky outcropping. They both turned to regard him as if waiting for orders. They were going to cooperate. Jack breathed a prayer to whichever deity was looking out for them.

Abruptly they began to walk in the opposite direction and Jack's heart sank. He had to get them moving in the right direction. He was reluctant to put Daniel down, he'd never be able to get him back onto his shoulders again, and he couldn't catch up with the two of them carrying Daniel. He whistled again. They turned to look at him.

"Yellow birds like to go bar hopping," he said as he began to walk the way they really needed to go. He hoped they would follow, he didn't know what he was going to do if they didn't. He chanced a peek behind him, to see them exchange glances. Carter shrugged and began to follow him, Teal'c close behind her.

Well, okay, they were back with the program however briefly, he just had to keep them going in the same direction. Now all he had to do was to get his flaky team all the way back to the gate. All. Ahead of them he could see where the beach joined the stony outcropping where the Stargate was located. Just a little further, he only had to get them a little further and then they could go home.

He kept walking, checking behind him from time to time to make sure he was still being followed. The urge he felt to dump Daniel and just run off by himself, leave everything behind, was becoming overwhelming. It would be so easy to let the rest of his team take care of themselves. They'd be alright while he went and cooled off in the water a little, an insidious voice whispered to him from inside his head. He ignored it, instead concentrating on how weary he was, how much his body ached, anything but listen to that voice.

Almost before he realized it, Jack found himself back on the stony ridge. Adrenaline flooded through him when he saw the Stargate at last silhouetted against the horizon. They were going to make it. He was going to get his team home. He wanted to shout it out. He wanted his team to share in his relief. But Daniel was still dead to the world and behind him he could hear Carter and Teal'c talking in their non-sensical way about purple bread and deep sea kitchens. He wondered if it was possible that it actually made sense to them in the state they were in? Was he just out of the loop when it came to communicating with the insane? Maybe he'd missed a lecture one day, or he just plain hadn't been paying attention?

Too tired to really care, he just kept walking, putting one foot in front of the other. As long as they followed, they could talk all they wanted. His thoughts were completely occupied now with getting back to the SGC: getting his team home, giving Daniel to the medical personal, taking a hot shower to wash off all the sand, having all the cold, clear water he could drink. It was all in sight, he just had to keep walking.

Carefully Jack picked his way across the stony ridge. The Stargate loomed larger and larger in front of them. They were almost there. Then there were there. Jack almost couldn't believe it when they arrived to find the MALP there where they left it. The gate looking like it always did. Things looked so normal, so everyday. And yet, things were so far from normal with his team. They couldn't communicate at all. He'd had to knock Daniel out to get him to cooperate. He didn't know why Carter and Teal'c had followed, he was just thankful that they had. Wearily, Jack laid Daniel down next to the DHD. He stretched his sore and aching shoulder muscles before turning to Carter.

"Open a window and let me take you to the store," he said pointing to the DHD. She just blinked at him, no comprehension in her eyes. Then it dawned on him, Carter didn't know the address anymore. Daniel was still out cold, but chances were that he wouldn't remember the address either. Shit! They were so screwed.

Unsure what to do now that they'd made it back to the gate, Jack stood, despair washing through him. He'd done his part, he'd gotten his team back to the gate. How was he supposed to get them home now? It was so unfair. To have made it all the way back to the gate and now to be stopped by this seemed so unfair. If they ever made it home, he was going to make sure that they all had little labels sewed into their BDUs – "If found, please return to Earth." It would include Earth's address. Jack would do it himself if he had to.

Like an answer to a prayer, the gate began to whirl. Someone was dialing in. Jack stood watching it with his mouth agape. Then he realized. Of course. It must be way past time for SG-1 to check in. The SGC was finally getting around to calling them to check on their status.

Daniel chose that moment to stir. He sat up groggily, blinking at the strangers around him before turning to stare in awe as the gate spun and locked for each chevron. When the worm hole exploded outward, he scrambled backwards to escape its ferocity. Seeing Daniel's reaction, Jack glanced around for Teal'c and Carter.

Perhaps he should have checked sooner. Teal'c had suddenly remembered his staff weapon and its uses, it was trained steadily on the gate. Carter obviously found it fascinating, she was headed straight for it, a let's-take-it-apart-and-see-how-it-works gleam in her eye. Jack caught her as she passed him sitting her down next to Daniel. She glared mulishly up at him, but stayed put.

Over his radio, Jack was overjoyed to hear, "SG-1, this is the SGC. Come in, please. SG-1, do you copy?" Jack had never been so glad to hear Sgt. Davis voice in his life. Too often he took the man who sat at the controls of the Stargate for granted, but never again.

"Space is my, tomorrow I'll go and pick the daisies," Jack shouted into his radio. The seconds ticked by as he waited for the SGC to respond. He knew the people in the control room would be alarmed by the cryptic words. He could almost imagine their reactions as they tried to decide what they had heard.

"SG-1, please repeat. I don't think we copied that." Jack could hear the uncertainty in Walter Davis' voice. He imagined that the general would be hovering behind his shoulder anxiously waiting for SG-1's response. It was always reassuring to know that General Hammond was there to make sure they made it home safely. Jack couldn't remember ever coming home to the SGC to not find the general there waiting for them. He was like a parent who waited for all of his kids to get home before going to bed at night.

"Into the zoo I drove to the car wash," Jack babbled happily. He was pleased to see the MALP power up. The camera swiveled so that the SGC could take in the scene on their side of the gate.

Before Jack could respond, he heard the whine of a staff weapon coming from behind him and then a shot exploded the MALP. Jack whipped around to find that Teal'c now had his staff weapon pointed toward the MALP. Maybe he was afraid the mechanical creature really wasn't dead, because he fired again. The machine sparked and sputtered with blue energy before a wisp of smoke escaped it heralding its death.

Letting his weapon rest on the ground, Teal'c regarded the MALP through narrowed eyes, perhaps waiting to see if it was going to charge him or something. It would do no good to rage at Teal'c, Jack knew he didn't know what he was doing. He didn't know that he'd just destroyed their best chance of getting home. Jack cursed himself though, he should have realized that Teal'c would react that way. Even though his team was basically out of their ever-loving minds, they were still responding to the situation true to their character. Daniel was ready to go off and explore, following some calling that Jack could never understand. Carter tinkered, building a sand gate was so like her. Teal'c was ready to assist her whenever needed and he defended his companions. And Jack led. Maybe that was why he hadn't been as affected as the rest of his team, he was leading them the way he always did. The fact that they followed was a testament to how close they were and how much they trusted him. Even when they didn't know why, they still followed him.

Yesterday Jack had thought his team needed a vacation, today he realized that all they really needed was each other. He lowered himself to sit down next to Carter and Daniel, leaning his head back against the DHD. He had to rest. He knew the general, it wouldn't be long before he sent SG-2 or some other team through the gate to find out what had happened to the MALP and to rescue SG-1 from its current predicament. He could even smile thinking about the spectacle his team was going to make of itself. He had confidence that whatever was wrong with them, they were going home where Dr. Frasier would figure out what it was and fix it. It was just the way life worked for SG-1.

* * *

General George Hammond stood at the doorway of the infirmary watching as Dr. Frasier and her team took care of SG-1. Individually they'd all been there at one time or another, but it was rare that that lay side-by-side. As his first contact team they knew the dangers they faced every time they walked through the gate and they accepted those risks. But it was just unfair that something so innocuous as the sand could be at fault this time, could strike his team down. The doctor had told him that they had inhaled spores in the sand that acted like a drug. It had interfered with their speech centers and impulse control. SG-1 had come through the gate acting like so many first graders on their first field trip. It had been frightening to see them so totally out of it and unaware of who they were or even where they were.

Only Jack O'Neill seemed to retain some awareness of what was going on around him. Babbling nonsense like the rest of his team, his eyes conveyed that he was actually trying to communicate with the people around him. The rest of his team just babbled together amicably, not really caring if anyone else around them understood their ramblings.

When he looked up to see the general watching from the control room above the gate, Jack had given him the thumbs up sign and a relieved grin. Giving himself over to the medics and the biohazard procedures, he helped to shepherd his team along.

Realizing that Jack was watching him watching them, the general moved to stand at his bedside, "You did it, Jack," he told the colonel, "you got your team home."

"Oranges make excellent dinner companions," Jack agreed. He looked haggard and tired with circles below his red-rimmed eyes. Other than that there didn't appear to be any physical symptoms that warranted the myriad lines and equipment that were connected to the colonel. It wasn't until one of them spoke that you realized that all was not right with SG-1.

Not quite knowing how to respond, the general nodded bemused. The doctor had explained that it would be some time before the spores were out of their system completely. They had managed to overwhelm even Teal'c's symbiote, it was only the fact that the colonel had worn a bandana over his mouth and nose filtering the sand a little that had kept him from being as overcome as the rest of his team. It would take time, but the spores were working their way out SG-1's bodies. Time was something that SG-1 had on their side now that they were at home.

Giving Jack's shoulder a gentle squeeze, the general left him to the doctor's care knowing that they were in excellent hands. He looked forward to hearing Jack's report on the mission. From the looks of SG-1 as they had come through the gate, it had been an interesting one; they were covered in sand and Daniel Jackson was sporting the beginnings of a spectacular bruise on his jaw. The general took one last look at the team; they were all sleeping now, even Jack's eyes were shut and his breathing even. Life continued in the mountain as it always did, and he could breath again now that SG-1 was home once again.


End file.
